Pres Dwight D. Eisenhower

“If all that Americans want is security, they can go to prison. They’ll have enough to eat, and a bed and a roof over their heads. But if an American wants to preserve his dignity and his equality as a human being, he must not bow his neck to any dictatorial government.”

(Source: DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, president of Columbia University, speech to luncheon clubs, Galveston, Texas, December 8, 1949.The New York Times, December 9, 1949, p. 23.)

 

Americans whine a lot these days about safety and security as if its their right owed to them by their government. It’s not! Our government unlike most others in the world was created to protect individual rights and property. It was understood that feeding, clothing, sheltering, and providing safety was an individual’s responsibility first and foremost. It was not a duty owed to them by their government unlike when they served England’s King at his pleasure. Back then people traded their liberties for the promises of a monarch that included “safety and security” in a caretaker role not unlike a slave and master.

I see nothing in over two centuries that has taken place since we broke with England to tell me that men are more enlightened in governing each other, more respectful of individual rights ( in fact quite the opposite),  more honest in their dealings with their citizens, and yet more and more Americans are willingly surrendering their individual responsibilities so a government agency can take care of them.

I feel liberty will once again have to be fought for in the future of this country,  and once again it will be by a small but determined minority. Those willing to risk their lives, treasure and sacred honor shepherding  the sheep once more into freer pastures.